Connecticut Yankees To Sahara Slaves

A nearly forgotten story about a 19th-century Connecticut ship whose mates were forced into slavery on the scorching Sahara Desert is getting a new day in the sun.

James Riley's remarkable best-seller, ``Suffering in Africa: An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Wrecked in the Western Coast of Africa in the Month of August, 1815,'' was one of the best-known books of its day.

Abraham Lincoln listed it as one of the six most influential books he read as a child -- and it may have planted a seed about the basic injustice of slavery.

For all of its fame in its day -- selling more than 1 million copies by 1860, it was all but forgotten by the end of the century.

Writer Dean King came across a dusty copy at the New York Yacht Club in the 1990s and was fascinated by the ordeal of the captain and crew, who survived their months in slavery in one of the world's most unforgiving climates. King wrote his own book, ``Skeletons of the Zahara,'' following the ancient spelling of the desert, in 2004.

It has now been turned into a History Channel special tonight, ``Skeletons on the Sahara,'' that features extensive re-enactments of the ordeal on location in the Sahara.

At a time when crashing on an unknown coast or being a willing castaway is the central story line of popular TV shows such as ``Lost'' or ``Survivor,'' nobody on such shows has confronted anything half as horrific as what Riley and his Connecticut crew had to endure. None of this was on his mind when the 37-year-old Riley and his crew of 11 set sail on the 220-ton brig called Commerce from Middletown in spring 1815. The plan called for a run to New Orleans to Gibraltar, with a stop at the Cape Verde Islands to pick up salt before returning.

But Riley and his crew, who had picked up another American in Europe for a ride back, never made it to Cape Verde.

Fog caused them to lose their bearings and a violent storm forced the Commerce aground on the rocky shore of what turned out to be Western Africa's unchartered Cape Bojador.

When the ship broke up, they were forced to abandon it and head for shore.

``We were spared,'' Riley wrote in his narrative, which is read liberally during the film, ``in order to suffer a severer doom.''

The survivors climbed aboard a lifeboat with little provisions and traveled up the shore, but with no water they were eventually forced to drink their own urine. They decided to return to shore after a couple of weeks, figuring they had a better shot at survival there.

Upon landing, Riley used his remaining energy to climb a high bluff to see where they were, only to find the world's most vast desert.

``Despair now seized on me and I resolved to cast myself into the sea ... and put an end to my miseries,'' Riley wrote. But, realizing he still had 10 men to care for, he changed his mind.

Taking to the desert, it wasn't long before they were overtaken by bands of Arab nomads who fought among themselves for the chance to take the men as slaves.

Thus they joined the thousands of white, mostly European Christians, who became slaves in Northern Africa by Muslims who considered them little more than infidels.

Among the constant work, they were afforded something slightly better to drink, though -- they found camel urine better tasting than human urine.

Starvation, beatings and exhaustion were part of their lives until Riley met an Arab merchant named Sidi Hamet, who took pity on him. Hamet was impressed that Riley insisted on sharing with his men the water he had given him.

Eventually, the merchant would be instrumental in brokering a deal that would free Riley and his men, thanks to a payment from an English businessman who hears of their plight.

The sufferings of the crew are depicted in the History Channel special mostly through pink and red sunburns.

The depictions of their travels in the real Sahara, and King's narration on site make the ancient story more vivid.

Displaying the number of days in captivity echoes a similar device used in shows such as ``Survivor,'' where the castaways are pampered by comparison.

Producers of the film may not quite succeed in making the case for friendship between Christians and Muslims that led to the crew's freedom. But there's more than enough uplift in the sheer perseverance of the captain and his crew. ``Skeletons on the Sahara'' debuts tonight at 8 on the History Channel.